Floating safe



M. NANNI FLOATING SAFE .File June i4, 1923 4 sheets-sheet 1 sept. 8,192.5. 1,553,097

spf. s, 192s. 1,553,097

M. NANNI FLATING SAFE Filed June 14, 1925 4 sheets-sheet 2 swf, s, 192s'. 1,553,097

`M. NANNI FLOATING SAFE Filed June 14, ,1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 8, 1925.

M. NANNI FLOATING SAFE` Filed June 14, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 f l J Patented Sept. 8, 1925i.

iUNITED STATES PAiEiSriv OFFICE.`

MENOTTI NANNI, or CHiCAGo`,ILL1Nois, AssrGNoR To OCEAN FLOATING SAFE Coivi- ,Y

, PANY, on CHICAGO, iLLINoIs. Y Y

FLOATING Appiication fue@ :rune 14, 1923.. serial No. 645,447.

vTo all whom t may Concern."

Be it known that I, MENOTTI NANNI, a former subject ofthe King of Italy (who has fore'sworn his allegiance to said King of Italy and declared his intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and therefore is not now a Citizen or subject/0f any country, and is .a residenti of the cityv o f Chicago, county of Cook, and State of'Illinois), have invented certain'new andiiseful Improvements in Floatingl Safes, of which the following is aspecication. f l My invention relates to floating safes, and has for'itsiobject thevprovisionV of a construction of this character adapted to preserve mail and other valuables of the passengersY in the case of' sinking of the ship within which the safes are carried, The present invention constitutesv an improvement4 over a prior United States patent filed 0n or about June 26,1914-, bymyselfA and one, Giuseppe Bertolini,'No. 1,136,145. i

Other objects willapp'ear hereinafter. l The invention Vconsists the combinations and arrangements of'parts hereinafter described and claimed. i

The invention ywillfbe :best understood` by reference toy the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, rand in which,

Fig. 1, is a vertical Vsection taken through an apparatus ernlf'iodyingv my invention,

Fig..2, isa sectional view taken substantially on line.2'-'2 of Fig. 1, f

` Fig. 3, is 4a'fr'agmentary sectional .view

taken vsubstantially on line 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4, is a sectional view taken substantially on line l--'of Fig. 1,v l A i Fig.,5,j is 4a fragriientary sectional .view taken substantially on line5-5 of Fig. 2, and I l t Figf, is a sectional detailedview taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, especiallytoV Fig. 1, the preferred form-of construction comprisesv `a tube or casing 1,0y arranged vertically within a yship and passing through the decks 11, 12 :and 13 thereof, the upper" end of the casing 10 being'expo'sed abovethe uppermost deck of 'the'ship'a'n'd has its open end hatch 14v comprises an interior of buoyant material such as a mixture of'glue andcork,

the same/being indicated at 15. The movable -llatch'iis PrQV-@ with handles `1 6. 'to V l The'casing.. 10 isfxed closedby amovable hatch 114. The

facilitate removing the hatch from the opening of the casing when mounting the floating safes, to be hereinafter mentioned, within the casing. The peripheral edges 17 of the hatch rest upon a ring or an annular gasket 18 of water proof material so that in times of safety no water canenter the casing 10. Air ducts 19 are carried by the hatch for the purpose of admitting'. air into the casing within which the floating safes are arranged, K' "f to the beams 20 of the decks by suitable means which in this vinstance is indicated at 21 and the casing extends down to the lowerinost deck ofthe ship, as shown.

Arranged in the casing10 is a floatf22 l fixed to a cable 23 wound'upon ya hollow drum 24, ask shown. The function and operation ofthe float 22 is substantially the same as that disclosed in the Letters Patent No. 1,166,145,herein mentioned and I, therefore, willonly g'o into detailsof the improvements embodied in connection with the vfloat.

l Arranged in av position above the oatl22 arefloating safes 25 and 26 each having interior walls of buoyant material, asgindicated at 27, and each provided with a door opening 27 which, when the safe is mountf e proper position registers with a door opening 28 formed in the adjacent wallsof 'the casing. The dooropening 27 is normally closedby an inwardly swinging door 129 while the door opening 28 is closed by an outwardly swinging door 30, this arrangement being such that ejection of the safes will not be interfered with by the door 29 should the sa'me accidently be left open at the .timewhenthe ship'sinks or otherwise meets with an accident. To permitV convenient access into the interior of the safes at eachV dooropening '28 I provide a hinged trap Afloor 31 which, when one desires to enterthe safes, 4can be swungwinto position to vspanf'the space between the 'safe andthe adj acent innerwalls of the casing. f It yis'my `inner walls thereof Vare. angular tracks 32 onrn to which ride grooved rollers V33 carried by Ushaped brackets 34e fixed to the safes 25 and 2b' and the float 22. The aXles 35. of. the grooved rollers 33 work in elongatedslots 36 formed in the legs 37 of the brackets 34. Each of the axles 35 carry on their opposite ends a socket bearing head 37 within the socket of which an expansion spring 38 works, said expansion spring being mounted to embrace a stud 39, as shown. By the provision of adjustable rollers working on tracks as herein set forth I 'lessen the fricn tion between the contacting parts of the safes and the inner walls of the casing when the safes are being discharged from the cas ing in time of an accident.

Y It' is intended that the interior of 'the walls of the casing be filled with Ia composition, indicated at 40, of non-combustible and ynon-.absorbent material to protect vthe safes against damage by lire. Y

As shown-in Fig. l the upper safe 25 is divided into a number of pigeon .holes 25 for safety deposit boxes while the lower lsafe 26 is especially adapted for carrying mail or like parcels, however, the interior arrangement of the safes is optional, it'being left to the owner to design the interior olf the 'safes for such facilities as may be dermanded bythe particular use of the ship,

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Y

Should the ship with which the apparatus is used sink, the water upon covering the upper deck will immediately move the Heatable hatch '1li which when removed will' permit the water to rapidly yflow into the casing l0, whereupon, the incoming water causes the' lfloat 22 andthe safes 25 and 26 to rise, due to the vfactof their ability to float. The safes and the float will'continue to rinse until free froi'n the casing 10whereuponV they will lioat on-the surface water until 4picked up "by a rescue ship or otherwise. Y

It will be seenY that I provide a simple arrangement for protecting mail and other valuables should disaster come to the ship carrying-the same.

While -I have illustrated and described the preferred -forml'of 'construction for carry'- ing my invention into effect, this is capable of lvariation and ymodification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not -wish to 'be limited to the precise details of construct-ion set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope lof the appended claims.

Having described my invention,'what I cla-im as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is':

l. The combination witha ship of a casing carried by said ship and extending through the decks thereof, there being a sealed doorway in the walls of said casing at each deck, iioatable containers arranged in said'casing and having sealed doorways adapted to register with the doorways of said. casing, and atrap iioor lat each Adoorway of said .casing arranged to span the space between said containers and the walls of said casing.

2. The combination with a ship of a cas-A ing carried 'by said ship and extending through the decks thereof, there being a sealed doorway in the walls of said casing at each `deck, floatable containers arranged in Said casing and adapted to be ejected therefrom and having sealed doorways adapted to register wit-h'the doorways of said casing, a trap floor. at each doorway of said casing arranged to span the space between said containers and the walls of said casing, and means for guiding said containers during ejection thereof. i

3. i The combination with a ship of a oasing carried by said ship and passing through the decks thereof and having an.open4end, there being a sealeddoorway in the. walls of said.'V casing at each' deck, a fioatable closure member for the open end of 'said casi-ng, floatable. containers arranged in said casing and having sealed vdoor-ways adapted to register withthe doorways of said casing, and a trap floor at each' doorway of 'said casing arranged t-o span the space between said containers and the walls o-f said casing.

4.. The combination with a ship of a casing carried by said ship and passing through the decks thereof and having an open end, there being a sealed doorway in the walls of said casing at each deck, .a floatable closure member for the open end of said casing, floatabler containers arranged in said casing and adapted to be ejected therefromand hav-ing. sealed doorways adapted to register with. the doorways .of said casing, a trap floor at each doorway of `said `casing arranged to spanthe space between said containers yand the walls of said casing, and means for guiding saidk containers during ejection thereof;

5. The combination with a ship, of a easing having an open'end and including spaced walls having'the space between the walls filled with non-absorbent material, a floata-ble cover at the open end of the casing and having peripheral edge portions resting on the adjacent end 'of the casing with'a ring of non-absorbent material disposed between the peripheral edge port-ions and the said casing end, and floatable containers within the'casing adapted under certain conditions to be ejected therefrom.

.6. The combination with a ship, of a casing having .an open end and including spaced walls having the space between the walls filled with non-absorbent material., a floatable cover at the open end of the casing and having peripheral edge portionsifisting on the adjacent end of the casing with a ring of non-absorbent material disposed between the peripheral edge portions and the said casing end, loatable containers Within the casing adapted under certain conditions to be ejected therefrom, guide members substantially angular in cross-section extending longitudinally with respect to the inner of Vsaid spaced Walls, and roller members carried by the containers for movement 10 laterally therefrom and adapted for engagement with the guides.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy mame to this specification.

MENOTTI NANNI, 

